Woman on motorcycle killed by suspected drunk driver, Arlington police say
A 43-year-old motorcyclist remembered by her family as “light,” “love” and “sunshine” died over the weekend in the latest of a series of recent North Texas deaths caused by suspected drunk drivers.
Arlington police responded to the intersection of South Watson and Webb Lynn roads around 11:20 p.m. Friday to find Julie Maldonado in critical condition, according to a news release. Investigators determined that the driver of a Dodge Charger was headed eastbound on Webb Lynn Road and ran a red light, hitting Maldonado.
Maldonado was taken to a hospital, where she died, police said in the release.
Kenneth Polk, 22, is suspected of driving the Charger while drunk, causing the crash, according to police. Witnesses told police they saw his car fleeing an unrelated hit and run at a nearby residence. Polk was arrested and faces charges of intoxication manslaughter and collision involving death. He was being held in the Tarrant County Jail on Monday on $450,000 bond.
In a GoFundMe raising money for funeral arrangements, Maldonado’s daughter wrote that she was “having the time of her life” riding her motorcycle when she was killed.
“She was a force, a powerful soul,” Yari Vazquez wrote in the fundraiser’s description. “My heart aches to know me and my brothers will never feel her warm embrace again.”
She said her brothers are young and Maldonado’s death is difficult for them to process. Maldonado was someone who had no trouble making friends, her daughter said.
“She is light, she is a firecracker, she is love,” Vazquez wrote.
She described her mother as “made of sunshine, glitter, Hello Kitty and smiles.”
Another biker who had been riding Friday with a group that included Maldonado died in a separate crash in Fort Worth, according to friends.
Fantasia Williamson, a mother with two sons, “had a heart of gold and was always ready to lend a hand or offer a kind word to anyone in need,” Andrew Heredia wrote in a GoFundMe description.
He said Williamson was “a remarkable woman,” “a beautiful soul” and “a devoted mother who did everything in her power to provide for her two beloved sons, Oryus and Noah.”
Oryus, 17, is a high school senior, while Noah is in the fourth grade. The GoFundMe will raise money “to help secure a stable future for Oryus and Noah, ensuring they have the resources and support they need during this difficult time,” the website says.
According to Fort Worth police, officers responded to the crash shortly after 11 p.m. Friday in the northbound lanes of East Loop 820. The investigation found that the motorcyclist, Williamson, was trying to pass a truck pulling a trailer, and the motorcycle crashed into a barrier on the freeway, police said.
Police increase patrols before Labor Day
Maldonado’s death came as law enforcement agencies across Tarrant County prepared to crack down on drunk driving in the area over the weekend.
Officers across the county participated in Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s “Saturation Saturday,” where police go out in force to catch drunk drivers. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office announced at a news conference Friday that police and sheriff’s deputies would inundate the streets.
Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said the solution to drunk driving is simple: “Don’t drive drunk.”
“We at the Fort Worth Police Department are still mourning the loss of a friend, a brother, a hero, Billy Randolph, who was senselessly taken from us by someone who decided to drink and drive,” Noakes said at the news conference.
A suspected drunk driver hit Randolph while he was working at the scene of a fiery crash on Interstate 35W on Aug. 12. A week later, a family of five was killed after police said a 19-year-old hit them on I-35W while driving drunk.
Noakes recalled how just days after Randolph was killed, another driver who police said was driving drunk crashed into the back of a police vehicle with its emergency lights on along that same stretch of highway. No officers were injured, and the police Tahoe was unoccupied when that crash happened.
The police chief also mentioned the deaths in the Aug. 19 crash of 48-year-old Willie Gunn, who was identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office; Gunn’s girlfriend, Amber Hopewell; and Hopewell’s three children, ages 2, 4 and 9, identified by family members.
“These incidents happen because people chose to deliberately commit a dangerous and even deadly decision to get behind the wheel drunk,” Noakes said. “It’s not an accident — it’s a criminal act and those people are criminals for taking those actions.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2024 at 6:27 PM.